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lawerencezieglerGuest<br>The transition from middle school to high school marks a pretty exciting time in a child’s – and a parent’s – life. But it can be scary, too. High school can be overwhelming and confusing, and not just because the buildings are bigger and the campus is unfamiliar. Kids leaving the middle school “bubble” have to deal with new teachers and academic demands. But if you can identify the differences between middle school and high school early, you can help your child avoid some of the pitfalls they might run across when they enter ninth grade. One of the scariest things about moving from middle school into high school is the increase in school size. That’s often because several middle schools from one school district dump into one high school. So the high school your child will attend could easily have four times as many kids than their former middle school, and most of them will be absolute strangers. As that first day of ninth grade looms, it can be overwhelming to imagine entering a totally unfamiliar (and much larger) campus and walking around in a sea of new faces.<br>
<br>Most high schools are pretty attentive about easing the transition, but it’s not hard to see how kids can get lost in the shuffle. Student-to-teacher ratios vary widely across the country, but according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average ratio was about 15-1 for 2019-2020 school year, but high school classes were usually bigger. Jumping from a class with 15 students to one with 20 doesn’t seem like that a huge deal, but it can cause things like your child to feel like they’re getting less one-on-one interaction with the teacher. And there’s definitely a lot less hand-holding in high school. Older kids are expected to be more responsible and independent, so they (in theory) don’t need as much attention from their teachers. A student who’s not quite ready for the task can end up falling through the cracks.S. 88.6 percent for the 2019-2020 academic year (the most recent available) – holding steady with the previous year’s average, according to U.S.<br>
<br>News & World Report. Eighth-grade teachers seem to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to make it clear to their students (or trying to scare their students, however you want to look at it) that there’s going to be a lot more homework in high school. And they do this for a reason: There’s a lot more homework in high school. Kids who aren’t ready for it can be in for a nasty shock during the first month or so of ninth grade. The increased workload – combined with the stress of new environments, schedules, expectations, teachers and classmates – can really throw some kids for a loop, so it’s especially important for parents to be on their game during this transitional time. They’re the oldest (and hence, coolest) in the school, and they take any opportunity to lord this fact over anyone they deem to be beneath them (that’s, like, you know, everyone).<br>
<br>But when the new school year rolls around, they discover pretty quickly how demoralizing it can be to plummet from head of the pack to bottom of the barrel. For this and the other reasons we’ve just discussed, many kids find themselves floundering in ninth grade. Some schools have tried to combat this phenomenon by separating freshman from the crowd just a little bit – they institute “ninth grade academies” or smaller class sizes to maintain some of that middle-school feeling for just a little while longer. In fact, seniors are more likely to ignore a lowly freshman than they are to stick his head in a toilet. Since middle schools emphasize on community-building and nurturing students, kids don’t get to choose what classes they take. Students might be put in different groups based on skill level, but in general, there’s little variation in the courses. Sixth grade is American history, seventh grade is pre-algebra, and that’s about it. High school is a whole new ballgame, with seemingly endless choices, which is exciting, obviously, but it can be overwhelming.<br>
<br>And the scheduling is always tough, too: What happens if your trombone-playing child is also a math whiz, and advanced trigonometry is at the same time as band practice? Or physics conflicts with French? There might not be an easy answer or a quick fix, but if parents, teachers and counselors work together, they can create a balanced schedule. After all, this is a critical time in your child’s life. Pretty soon, they fly the coop, never to be seen again. But you’d be thinking wrong: Parent involvement actually decreases during the high school years. One reason is that high school often doesn’t court parent involvement as much as elementary and middle school does; it’s just a more hands-off type of environment. Parents also commonly assume that their contributions aren’t needed as much because kids are older and more responsible. Not so. Many studies have shown that parental involvement is a major factor in their children’s success.<br>Here is more info regarding PDF Help tool stop by the web page.
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